In an interview with David Rodriguez, Lead Designer at High Voltage, GameDaily Biz explores the possibility that the current focus on slick cinematics in games may be ruining the final product. Rodriguez asserts that the time and money wasted on the creation of cinematic eye candy would be better spent improving the core gameplay of the title.

Rodriguez says that he, like other gamers, is completely taken out of the experience of a title when it forces one cut-scene after another down our throats. "Apparently, I didn't buy a game about playing a game. I bought a game about walking from one contrived cinematic to another," he writes. "You know, I can buy a really good movie for like twenty bucks. That twenty bucks even gets me extra discs, with director and actor commentary, and maybe even a good plot. Instead, I just gave these asses FIFTY dollars to watch a really bad movie!"

"[Critics] were giving the game high points for its 'MTV like cut-scenes and presentation'... I let this sink in for a moment. As I sat there, with all this marinating in my head, I tried very hard to pinpoint exactly when games started getting patted on the back for this. Just when did we get to a point when THIS passed as quality entertainment? You don't ever see a movie review that reads, 'Well the plot of the movie was pretty crappy, but it had a slick video game presentation.' (Or if they do, they don't mean it in a complimentary manner.)"